Christina reviewed Eight by Katherine Neville
Review of 'Eight' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
My thoughts are uneven. For me, the shining qualities of The Eight are the adventurous, cunning, courageous characters who happen to be women, the history and chemistry research and travelogue-like commentary, and the mathematics threaded throughout, including puzzles.
I began reading this and Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon at the same time. These books have shared qualities: dual timelines, globe-trotting treasure hunters, ancestors and descendants, and mathematics. Neville's The Eight predates Cryptonomicon by eleven years, and at times I wondered if Stephenson had read The Eight.
The detriments that knocked off a star are two elements of a novel I, pardon the word, treasure: dialogue (1792 - 1800s) of the characters, and overuse and misuse of words: namely "face was a mask", "barreled through," and the hackle-raising "comprised of," which I read from Cambridge Dictionary is now accepted usage. I still ask myself "why not 'composed of'" or "[these elements] comprise"? …
My thoughts are uneven. For me, the shining qualities of The Eight are the adventurous, cunning, courageous characters who happen to be women, the history and chemistry research and travelogue-like commentary, and the mathematics threaded throughout, including puzzles.
I began reading this and Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon at the same time. These books have shared qualities: dual timelines, globe-trotting treasure hunters, ancestors and descendants, and mathematics. Neville's The Eight predates Cryptonomicon by eleven years, and at times I wondered if Stephenson had read The Eight.
The detriments that knocked off a star are two elements of a novel I, pardon the word, treasure: dialogue (1792 - 1800s) of the characters, and overuse and misuse of words: namely "face was a mask", "barreled through," and the hackle-raising "comprised of," which I read from Cambridge Dictionary is now accepted usage. I still ask myself "why not 'composed of'" or "[these elements] comprise"? It may be me who has the stylistic tic, but in a novel that large, these clichés huddled together in the last 83-92% of the text could use some diverse synonyms.
My interest wavered, but I'm glad I read it, Cryptonomicon and Gödel, Escher, Bach: mathematical and historical elements enhanced my reading.